NRA Official Blames Hollywood for Sandy Hook School Shooting

Executive vice president Wayne LaPierre also lashes out at video games

NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre calls on Congress to pass a law putting armed guards in every American school during a press conference at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, DC.
Credit: Chris Maddaloni/CQ Roll Call

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A top NRA official has pointed the blame at Hollywood and video games for gun violence in the wake of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut. Executive vice president Wayne LaPierre called for more guns, remarking, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun," and then went after the gaming industry.

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"And here's another dirty little truth that the media try their best to conceal: There exists in this country a callous, corrupt and corrupting shadow industry that sells, and sows violence against its own people, through vicious, violent video games with names like Bulletstorm, Grand Theft Auto, Mortal Kombat and Splatterhouse," he said. "And here's one: It's called Kindergarten Killers. It's been online for 10 years. How come my research department could find it and all of yours either couldn't or didn't want anyone to know you had found it?"

LaPierre also turned his attention to film industry. "Then there's the blood-soaked slasher films like American Psycho and Natural Born Killers that are aired like propaganda loops on Splatterdays and every day a thousand music videos that portray life as a joke and murder as a way of life. And then they have the nerve to call it entertainment," he said. "But is that what it really is? Isn't fantasizing about killing people as a way to get your kicks really the filthiest form of pornography? In a race to the bottom, media conglomerates compete with one another to shock, violate and offend every standard of civilized society by bringing an ever-more-toxic mix of reckless behavior and criminal cruelty into our homes — every minute of every day of every month of every year."

Chris Dodd, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, issued a statement in response. "I have reached out to the administration to express our support for the president's efforts in the wake of the Newtown tragedy," he said. "Those of us in the motion picture and television industry want to do our part to help America heal. We stand ready to be part of the national conversation."

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